Conditioning Research

I'm not sure what to make of this and without the full paper it is always hard to know what it really says.  However, from the abstract they seem to be claiming that a protocol that avoids failure achieves maximum recruitment of motor units.  What is interesting is that muscle fibre recruitment was higher towards the end of the 15 rep set  - which was going to failure - than the heavy 3 rep max set.   This is the size principle at work! The thing about failure though is that you know that you are there.  Stopping 3 reps short of failure is one thing...but unless you fail how do you know when you were 3 reps away from failure?!  Fail and then you are certain you were there. UPDATE James Steele has now analysed this paper and offers some very insightful comments on his blog: To Failure or Not to Failure - That is the Question....  Doug McGuff's comments are also very helpful on the Body by Science blog   Muscl...

What time of day is best for training.  From this study it looks like the answer is .....whenever you usually train....although in general it looks like late afternoon is best for strength training.  That will be just after work then. The Effect of Training at a Specific Time of Day: A Review Abstract :  This article focuses on physical performances after training at a specific time of day. To date, although the effect of time of day on aerobic performances appears to be equivocal, during anaerobic exercises, the effect of time of day has been well established with early morning nadirs and peak performances in the late afternoon. These diurnal rhythms can be influenced by several factors such as the regular training at a specific time of day. Indeed, regular training in the morning hours may increase the lower morning performances to the same or even higher level as their normal diurnal peak typically observed in the late afternoon by a greate...

If you have a couple of hours (!) you might like to watch this.   i haven't had a chance yet, but if you have let me know what you think in the comments. This is from Obesity Panacea .

These two came out last week and I thought I'd pop them up here for your interest.  Incidentally I suspect that most of the benefits of HIIT could be attained more quickly and with less risk, through proper resistance training .....but that is a different issue. Anyway, the studies: The effect of high-intensity intermittent exercise on body composition of overweight young males. Twelve weeks of HIIE resulted in significant reductions in total, abdominal, trunk, and visceral fat and significant increases in fat free mass and aerobic power. The actual protocol was quite tough by the look of it: Subjects in the exercise group completed supervised exercise (8 s sprint, 12 s recovery) continuously throughout each 20-min session. The HIIE workload was set at 80–90% of each subject’s heart rate (HR) peak at a cadence between 120 and 130 r.p.m and recovery was set at the same amount of resistance but at a cadence of 40 r.p.m. Subjects were instructe...

Leo Babauta has a good post today on his Zen habits blog: The Zen of the Barbell The barbell sits there, inert, not wanting anything, not expecting anything of me. It becomes a simple tool, one that must only be lifted up, against the forces created by a massive Earth, and put back down. A simple tool that is practice for a way of living — a bell of mindfulness.

Some great feats of strength and skill here from Ross